


Drawn to You

by NerdyGamerMama



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because I can, Because of Reasons, Cullen Eventually Lets Loose, Cullen Has Issues, Cullen Rutherford Fluff, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Don't Like Don't Read, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, Hand Scar (Anchor?), Inquisitor is an Artist, Pain, Past Drug Addiction, Quizzy Uses Drugs JUST in Case, Romance, Scarred inquisitor, She Fights Through the Pain, Spinal Scar, With Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:30:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdyGamerMama/pseuds/NerdyGamerMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you think of Josephine Montilyet, what first comes to mind?  Organized?  Business?  Authority?</p><p>What happens when she makes a mistake and (the Inquisitor) Elira Trevelyan winds up staying in the same vacation rental as Cullen Rutherford?  Will they become friends?  Lovers?  Enemies?  </p><p>Way to go, Ruffles!  Varric approves greatly!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drawn to You

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, this is my first fanfiction of DA:I. I've written only one other fan fiction that took place in the Dragon Age fandom and I took it down (on FF.Net) because I was receiving too much grief and aggravation from people telling me that things couldn't happen the way that they did. Isn't that what fan fiction is all about? No rules, just fun? Anyway, I'm not a writer by any means, but I do hope that you enjoy my tale. Excuse my grammar. xD I'm having fun! You do the same! Thanks for reading!

Tethras Publishing Company was quiet save for the click clacking of Josephine’s four inch black stilettos against the slate tile floor. The clipboard that she normally held close to her chest, in fear of losing track of her day, dangled nonchalantly by her side by well manicured fingers. She pulled down the perfectly coiffed bun and ran her hand through the soft tendrils to loosen them from the styling product and almost permanent position. The loose curls framed her face and hit her shoulders and it felt good to peel off the professionalism and just be Josie.

Had she not agreed to watch the office for those last minute business calls, she would have went home like everyone else, upon Varric’s approval, but he needed someone to keep a close eye on his affairs until he returned from his latest book tour. There weren’t a lot of people that the dwarf trusted, but as his partner she obliged. After all, time was money.

As she rounded the corner, she felt the textured dark beige walls with her free hand and examined the cleanliness of the building and its beauty. She had to give credit to their interior designer, Dorian Pavus. He kept up with all of the latest fashions -- on and off the rack. The halls were decorated with Orlesian artwork in thick, ornate, golden frames and tall vases filled with stems of Crystal Grace and curled twigs of Ironbark. Tall, arched windows donned ceiling to floor dark blue drapes that were tied back with large golden ropes. The windows were probably Josephine’s favorite part of the old building. They helped filter in the light of the afternoon and warmed the hallways from the cold grasp of winter.

Alone at four thirty in the afternoon and completely bored out of her mind, Josephine plopped down at the front desk in the ornate leather chair, flattened the ruffles at the bottom of her black pencil skirt and rummaged through a small stack of papers left behind by the receptionist. It was unlike Claire to leave work undone, Josephine thought to herself as she looked at a few letters from clients. There was a page at the bottom of the list that caught her attention. It was a yellow piece of paper that had a lot of scribbles and doodles, but it wasn’t dated, unlike the other letters.

“Always, always date your lists, Claire!” The Antivan accent hissed throughout the empty office. It was a daily ritual for Josephine to date her tasks and at the end of the day she filed her lists away in a cabinet by the month and date, just in case she needed to refer back to something. She had a system for everything and prayed to the Maker that Claire would pick up those habits, too, because as the situation was, she was not organized like Josephine.

The girl’s list of to-dos wasn’t completely checked off or scratched out, and it made Josephine cringe at the thought of something being left for a Monday morning that could be easily completed before Claire left for the weekend. Josephine had a list of completed lists to make sure that all of her work was finished and she never let tasks build up nor escape her. Why couldn’t everyone be so efficient? She thought as she began to read the list out loud.

“Call Cathleen and remind her that page fifty needs revising...again. Pick up my dry cleaning at Sera’s Breaches Shop. Confirm lunch with Iron Bull and tell him not to bring that alcohol that made Varric see things.” 

Josephine laughed as she read the last one off. She was all too familiar with how the Iron Bull partied and wondered if he acquiesced to Varric’s request or if he brought the alcohol in question. 

Scanning her bright eyes over the list, one of the requests stood out. It seemed as if Claire began to strike through the task, but she stopped one third of the way into the sentence. Was it completed or not? She asked herself.

It read, “Call the courier and have him deliver the key to Varric’s vacation home, on Amaranthine beach, to his friend, Elira Trevelyan, no charge.”

“If you’re going to complete a task, you might as well cross the whole thing off.” She sighed, grabbed a black ink pen in Claire’s drawer (which was also a mess) and crossed it out with pleasure. The thought of Claire not being completely organized made her question Varric’s intentions. Was she hired for her good looks or her talents? Josephine dismissed the thought and dialed the number on the page. It was not her business to question his potential choice in women.

On the fourth ring, a feminine voice answered.

“Hello? Is this Elira Trevelyan?” Josephine asked, clearing her throat a bit.

“Yes, this is she.” Elira responded with a curious tone lingering in her voice.

“This is Josephine Montilyet. I work with Mr. Tethras at Tethras Publishing Company. I just wanted to make sure that a house key was sent to you via the messenger per his request.” Josephine absentmindedly toyed with her black pearls that nested inside the ruffles of her white blouse while she spoke to the young lady.

“No, why?” The young woman replied in a perplexed tone.

“Oh.” Josephine simply stated. She took a mental note of Claire’s mistake and how she was going to handle it on Monday and how she was going to reprimand her for her poor work. After a short pause, she continued. “It seems our receptionist made a mistake. If you’d like, I can meet you at the Herald’s Rest near Skyhold apartments? I’d be more than happy to bring you the key.”

The joyous tone and agreement from Elira made Josephine swell with pride. At least someone can finish the job, she thought.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their meeting was short but nice. The young lady, Elira, was quite fun to talk to and she could see the appeal of why Varric was friends with her. She told Josephine that most of his book covers were designed by her. 

“So, you’re the one who designed that gorgeous woman on the cover of Sword and Shield? Maker, I was sold just by that cover alone!” Josephine admitted.

“You need to speak to Claire on Monday, Varric. After cleaning and organizing her desk and finishing her work this afternoon...Void help her.” She spoke into her cell phone as she walked down the street from delivering the key to Elira. She closed her black peacoat with her hands while balancing the phone on her shoulder. There was a bounce in her step and a smile spread across her glossy lips. The day was a complete success just as she wanted it to be.

“Why, what did she do, Ruffles?” Varric asked with a chuckle.

“She left a few tasks undone. You know how I hate to see a list of to-dos abandoned and and left for another day! Well, anyway, she almost left your friend, Miss Trevelyan, that lovely girl, without a vacation home this weekend. Don’t worry, I made sure she was taken care of. Since Claire--”, She was interrupted by a gruff tone.

“What do you mean? Josephine, what did you do?” Varric’s voice was cooler than usual. He almost always had a bit of laughter in his gruff voice and he never called her Josephine unless he was serious.

“I-I fixed the problem, Varric.” She stopped mid walk and felt the heat rising in her throat. “Claire left the task halfway crossed off, so I called your friend and met her at Herald’s Rest and gave her the key. What’s the matter?”

The tone in Varric’s voice caused instant worry. It was unlike Varric to lose his composure, if that was what he was doing. He wasn’t exactly yelling, but he wasn’t saying much either and that’s what made her body stiffen. As people passed by her, she sat down on a bench and held her face in her hand and waited with bated breath for his response. 

Varric sighed heavily and responded, “Curly - er, Mr. Cullen Rutherford, has my Amaranthine house this weekend. That’s why I told Claire earlier this week to cancel Elira’s visit. I made the mistake of offering it to them both but seeing as how they don’t know each other, I figured it wouldn’t make for a pleasant visit.”

“Andraste’s ass.” Josephine replied, palming her forehead and closing her eyes with aggravation towards her mistake. The Antivan was clearly an organized woman with a head for business, but this wasn’t like her. All she wanted to do was tie up loose ends and end the day with a huge success like every day. “No wonder she said that she was glad you had changed your mind…” Josephine trailed off, aggravated at her assumption.  
Mr. Rutherford is going to kill me. She thought, adding fuel to her internal fire.

Varric’s laughter seemed to be heard by passersby as it blared through the speaker of her cell phone. “You...you mean to tell me the great and powerful Ruffles made a mistake?” Varric roared.

“Why is that so funny? It’s just a mistake. I’ll correct it. I’ll call the girl and tell her not to--”, She was interrupted again.

“No, no...this is too good. I owe that uptight, hardworking, son of a gun, Cullen, a good time. Just let the story unfold, Ruffles. Maker knows he needs this after what he’s been going through lately, but I’d pay good sovereigns to see the looks on their faces when they have to share the house for the weekend. Hell, it might make the plot for my next bestseller.” Varric laughed so hard that he almost choked. “Way to go, Josie. You managed to do what I wanted to avoid. I like it. Do you think they’ll name one of their children after me?”

“Maker, kill me.” Josephine groaned into the phone. “I’m never staying late on a Friday again, do you hear me, Varric?”

**Author's Note:**

> So... what did you think? How are the two of them going to handle meeting each other? Hmm... I cannot wait to find out myself! xD


End file.
